Hi All!

A few new reviews, followers and favorites since my last update and I just want to thank you all soooooooo much! It honestly makes me smile every time I see those new updates of any kind. I am honestly not a very active participant in the Fosters fandom. I follow some tumblr blogs and am in the Brallie shipper forum, but so far, this is my only true "contribution" so to speak. So it makes me feel really honored to be able to share my love of these characters and this story with you. I really appreciate each and every one of you for sticking with me.

I wanted to introduce these two chapters because in a way, they help to set off the chain of events that I feel can bring about full-circle moments for both Callie and Stef. Although I feel like I relate to and understand both Brandon and Callie, Stef is probably the character that I least identify with. So, I worked very hard on these chapters and did a lot of Stef-related viewing to make sure that I could get her thoughts and perspectives done in a way that would ring true and explain her silence when it comes to Callie. I am really happy with how her first chapter turned out and would love any reviews that you guys can give for it.

With all of that said: Please Enjoy, Review and Follow!

Peaces!

Chapter 19:

My. You're.

"Brandon…?" Callie said in a tired voice. They were sitting back to back with the bars holding them both up.

As Brandon suggested, they'd been taken to a small Mexican jail. And whatever rights they were "read" so to speak weren't enough that Brandon-who'd taken Spanish for his high school credits-could translate very well to Callie what was going to happen to them. Summing it up, they'd basically been told that they were arrested for "disrupting the peace" and basically to wait to learn their fates.

Before the guards had turned the lights out, the two were placed in what they guessed were the "drunk tank" cells. Brandon was in the left cell nearer to the building's enclosing wall and Callie in the other adjoining cell with a clear view of the door to the outer-office.

The jail was very small and Callie guessed that it was at least a couple of decades old. Essentially, they were in a small grey room that just happened to be surrounded by bars. They were sitting on cold brown concrete floors with black iron bars in-between them. There were only two cells in here. Near the top of each cell there was a very small glass window with more bars, but it allowed in a glimpse of the moonlight and faint sounds of the still bustling city outside.

"What, Callie?" Brandon answered her, a hint of tired annoyance in his voice. Callie understood as while he'd seemed more then contented to sit in the silence for what already seemed hours, she felt the need to talk. Callie had been jailed three times before in her short life. And each time, what drove her craziest had been the inability to truly connect with anyone else; until now. This time, with her close friend and love in the adjoining cell, she couldn't help but rambling off her many thoughts. Regardless of how unhelpful they may have been.

"What time do you think it is?" Callie said hugging her knees up to her chest. Having placed her leather jacket around Sophia's shoulders, she now only wore the thin green t-shirt she'd worn on their day out yesterday and had fallen asleep in. Her pants were previously off-white capris that were now covered in sand.

Callie felt Brandon's sigh rising up in in his back and she turned to see him glancing up towards the window. She mirrored him and glanced up at her own window. The moonlight was fading but still illuminated the cells enough that Callie could almost see her bleak surroundings.

"Your guess is probably as good as mine." Brandon started with another deep sigh, but then added "Maybe around 4:30 in the morning." The drive to the jail had been maybe 20 minutes. It had been about an hour since then and Callie thought of Mariana's last words to her.

"Do you think Mariana called anybody yet?"

"I'm sure she has."

"Do you think they'll let us call anyone yet?"

"Probably not. Judging off of the way those guards were eyeing our phones, they're probably already on some boat sailing down the Tijuana river, on their way to a black market in the Rio Grande or something."

In spite of the sadness of their situation, Callie still found herself laughing at the ridiculousness of Brandon's run-on assertion. Brandon was always bitingly sarcastic and somehow unknowingly funny with his sometimes over-the-top expressions that signified his desperation.

There's not a single other person on earth like him, Callie thought with a sigh.

"Brandon." Callie said again, after a few moments of silence as she stretched out her legs ahead of her.

"Yes, Callie."

"If I had to be thrown into a Mexican jail cell with anyone, I'm glad it was with you."

Callie heard Brandon's short, dry laugh but after a few moments he responded quietly "Yea. Me too."

Silence fell around them now and Callie wondered how much longer they would have to wait to find out their fate. As well-versed as Brandon seemed to be about the possible horrors of Mexican jail, Callie had no stick by which to measure their predicament. Therefore, she was just…waiting.

In the moonlit cell, with the city sounds forming a perfect white noise background, Callie's mind drifted back to her conversation with Brandon about waitlists. All of this time, it had been months and Callie had been so nerve-wracked about opening her college letter from NYU that she might have missed an opportunity.

Why? She wondered now. What exactly was holding her back from it?

Objectively, Callie knew that it was to do with her family. Their reactions, their assumptions, their disappointments.

Jude, she thought. But just as quickly she realized that no, Jude had all but given her his permission to go wherever her heart took her months ago. And yet she had still hesitated.

Going to New York, she reasoned now. Where Brandon is. Callie could just hear Mariana and Sophia teasing her endlessly that she was following Brandon. Was that it?

In her heart, Brandon being in New York was a point of comfort, Callie acknowledged now as she glanced back at the boy on the other side of her. Didn't matter that they weren't as close as they'd once been, still he was…he was here. As always. And he was the person, who she always wanted to be there. So, yes, being able to head to New York while knowing that that person was in the city too was reassuring.

But, was it because she was in love with him? Yes, she was, Callie could admit to herself. But, that honestly didn't have to do with her wanting to go to New York or NYU. Even if Brandon was staying in San Diego, she'd still have wanted both: to be able to be with him and to be in New York. They could have even done long distance if he weren't there, but in the meantime, Callie wanted that experience for herself. The experience of being…

Just being…Callie couldn't quite phrase it even in her mind, but she knew that it began with not being in her Dad's house, or even in the Fosters house. Surrounded by everyone.

…Suffocated.

"What's it like?" Callie asked quietly as she traced circles on the cold floor with her fingertips.

"What?" Brandon asked, clearly startled by her sudden break of the silence.

"Being…on your own now. Away from everyone. By yourself?"

Brandon paused and turned his head slightly to glance back at Callie before breathing out a thoughtful sigh that she felt through the bars. "I don't know…that's a really complicated question."

"Why?"

"Because, I don't know if I think as being on my own, really. I mean, I do want to come back home." Brandon said matter-of-factly. "New York is just the means to my own personal ends, you know?"

"Yea, I guess. But still. I just haven't…I don't think I've ever been completely in control of my own life that way since…well, ever really." Callie said thinking of the morning she'd found out her mother had died. Not once. "As much as I think I might want it, it also seems like it might be kind of scary."

"Well, it is that." Brandon said, with a nod. "But it's also exciting. And…liberating. I was supposed to have been an "adult" before." Brandon scoffed, "I even started to think I was. And I made a lot of stupid decisions, trying to convince myself and everyone else of it." At this point, Callie knew some of the mistakes Brandon was thinking of, but she said nothing and he didn't expound.

"But…to answer your question. Ever since moving to New York and what has that been like?" Brandon began and leaned his head back as he closed his eyes and began to put words to the feelings. "I am in charge of my own life, now. Every single thing that happens there isn't because two of my parents are cops or my Mom's a supervisor at my school. Or because my girlfriend needs help paying her bills. Every morning I make the decision to go out and work to take care of myself. Or to head to MOMA for inspiration. Or so sign up to volunteer to give piano lessons to terminal kids in the hospital. Or to audition for piano playing gigs. Or to just spend the day in Central Park, sitting on benches and listening to the birds and daydreaming about what I hope for the future…"

There was a slight pause and Callie realized that her eyes had filled with tears at Brandon's statements, but she wasn't quite sure why.

"It feels like…like my entire future is in my own hands, you know? It's like you have your entire life right in front of you every single second. Your future, your happiness, your purpose. It's all up to you. And it's a really amazing feeling."

Callie sighed as Brandon finished speaking and wiping at her eyes, she whispered. "It sounds amazing."

Brandon paused now and Callie could feel that he'd turned to look at her. "Why did you ask me that?"

Callie shrugged and did her best to seem indifferent as she turned to her right so that she was sideways beside Brandon's cell. "I don't know…I was just thinking about my whole…thing."

"Like, what you're going to do with your life?" Brandon paused and then waved at their surroundings "Assuming we get out of this mess, I mean."

Callie nodded "Yea, of course." She looked over at Brandon now "I haven't really told anyone yet. But, I got into a lot of my schools. Almost all of the ones that I actually wanted, I mean. I even got some scholarship offers."

"What?! Callie that's great news! I'm happy for you." Brandon said with a wider smile then Callie had seen on his face in months.

Callie couldn't help but to smile back "Thank you."

"But then…" Brandon asked regarding Callie curiously, "Why do you seem so sad, about it?"

Callie shook her head and said softly "It's like…like you know how you just said that you're happy for me? But, are you happy, Brandon? Like for yourself and with the way your life is going now?"

Brandon scoffed with an incredulous look and Callie knew that he was about to make another biting comment, "Not presently, no. I would prefer if we weren't sitting in some drunk tank in Mexico."

Callie laughed gently, but suddenly felt like crying again. Brandon peered at her closer through the bars and said "But, if you meant, in general? Yea, I guess I would say that I am. For the most part." Then he added with genuine concern, "What about you?"

The tears fell now "I'm not." Callie said realizing all at once that this was what she'd been hiding from. This was what was laying beneath the surface of that letter and not speaking to her parents about her dreams. Her unhappiness at the way things in her life were. The way they'd been for over a year now. "I'm not happy at all." She continued in a voice filled with the realization that she hadn't been being honest with herself.

"I think I was trying to make myself believe I was. For so long, all I wanted was to make sure that Jude got adopted. And then after, that I got adopted. It was my entire life's mission. My reason for fighting. But, even after I was? I still felt so…incomplete. So, I just kept trying to find a new fight. A new mission. That's what the whole thing with Justina and the foster care bill was about. And then with Kyle and that murder investigation. And when it fell through, I went with Diamond to that…to that pimp." Callie's voice faltered as the tears overtook her voice, but she continued. "There was nothing to lose and I could still help, you know? I could still fight for someone…

"And so after all of…that, then out of nowhere someone sends in a tape and the reversal happened, and I went to live with Robert. And even though…even though it wasn't exactly what I wanted, the way I wanted it, I knew that Jude was okay now and I was finally, finally safe. One way or another, that part of my life was over.

"So, I found a new purpose; a new fight. And I started pouring all of my energy into making sure Dreams Girls United happened. Then working in the center, doing something positive that I really believe in. And reconnecting with you guys," She said, with a nod towards Brandon implying him and the other Adams Fosters. "I thought 'This is it.' you know? 'I have my family and I have my friends and I'm okay now. I don't have to fight anymore and I'm supposed to be happy now.'." Callie shrugged as she leaned her head against the bars and sobbed softly.

"But, the truth is that I'm not. I mean I see these girls every single day who have so little and are going through so much. They get joy, Brandon. Like actual joy from a toothbrush. Or a pair of socks. And here I am living with my rich birth-father, who loves me and wants to make me happy, with acceptance letters and scholarships to all these colleges and knowing that my education would be paid for either way. But, I'm just…not happy. I feel so restless and so nervous and so…suffocated."

"But, why?" Brandon asked, clearly saddened by Callie's confession.

Callie thought about the NYU letter and how she hadn't been able to open it again. In her mind and heart, she knew whose approval she wanted. Whom she didn't want to think that she was following Brandon or that she was leaving them for good. They were the same reason she'd been practically holding her breath before making any real moves for the past year. Her parents. All 4 of them, but in particular two of them. Robert Quinn and Stef.

Mom.

"Because ever since the reversal…maybe before that even, every time I do anything, I am always so, so worried about how it will affect everyone else. What everyone else will think about why I am doing it." Callie paused now and thought about being with Brandon and added quietly "If I even have the right to do it."

Again, the silence swirled around them and Callie wondered what Brandon was thinking. She glanced over at him and he was looking at her with a sort of wondrous and confused expression. Brandon not having something to say in response to Callie's long tangent was highly unusual.

Dramatic, much? Callie thought to herself, as she realized that now was certainly not the time for this conversation and Brandon's expression and lack of response said that times ten.

Callie lifted her head from the bars, wiping her eyes as she breathed deeply. So far, Brandon was still silent and she was sure that he probably thought she was crazy. After all, they were sitting in a Mexican jail cell and she chose now to practically come undone and have a huge semi-quarter-life crisis.

"Anyways," Callie began now with a slight sniffle. It was hard to turn off her emotions like she used to. Now she was like a leaky faucet "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to go all "drama" on you."

"Callie…"

"No, really." Callie said, nodding as she shook her head and tried her best to fight off the tears, "I think it's just…I think I'm just bored, really. Now, I'm settled and it's quiet and it's just not what I'm used to. I think I'm still craving something to stand up against and I just don't get that there's nothing left to fight for. So, I guess I just…I just have to stop fighting, you know?"

"No, I don't know that at all…" Brandon said quietly and Callie glanced over at him.

"Really? So you're saying you think I should just keep fighting my calm, soothing existence?" Callie said with a soft laugh, glancing down at her fingers "Fighting against peace?"

"No," Brandon said harshly "I think that you should start fighting for yourself."

Callie gasped though she wasn't wholly sure why. She turned slightly towards Brandon again and saw that he had fully turned so that he was facing Callie through the bars and so she lifted her head to face him as well.

"If you aren't happy, Callie. If you feel suffocated or like you don't have the right to live the way you want to, then that feeling is something to fight for. Any other way is surviving, but it isn't really living. And staying willfully unhappy is no way to live."

"Yea," Callie said turning away, as the tears filled her eyes again "I think this fresh flood of tears kinda means that I'm finally starting to see that."

"No, I'm serious, Callie." Brandon said with a very sympathetic and yet stern tone to his voice, now. Callie raised her head and looked into his eyes, so steady and meaningful even in the dim moonlight.

"What I mean is that, that's no way for you to have to live, Callie. Just look at what you're doing for those girls you talked about? What you did before for the foster care bill or how hard you fought to make sure Jude finally had a home? You do so much for other people; God knows you've talked me off about a hundred ledges. And you've literally risked your life for others. So, now that you are finally ready to, you deserve to be able to make choices about your life that you want to make. Choices that will make you happy."

Callie nodded sadly. So much of what Brandon was saying echoed what Lena had told her months ago.

He really is her son, she thought.

"And anyone in your life who really…who really loves you and cares about you as much as I do? That's what they'll want for you too."

Callie couldn't ignore that it was the first time in what felt ages that Brandon had told her that he loved her. Maybe not romantically, but still. She wished she didn't feel so much joy at hearing it, but she did. Callie reached up and placed the fingers of her right hand around a bar reaching a few through for Brandon's. Brandon responded by gripping her fingers with his own, and giving a small, solemn smile.

Only Brandon Foster could make such an endearing gesture happen in a dank, dusty jail cell, Callie thought with a smile.

"Thank you, Brandon." Callie said squeezing his fingers tightly.

"You're welcome." He said and for a few moments they just looked at each other in the sudden silence.

The cell was lighting up now to the extent that Callie could see Brandon's face and their surroundings clearly now and as much as she wanted to stay in this moment with him, she was forced to truly regard their current predicament again.

"So...how do you suppose we'll get out of here?" Callie asked, wiping the fresh tears from her eyes as they seemed to simultaneously release their grip on one another.

As if on cue, the door to the small dim room opened. The light flickered on and Callie had never been happier to see Mariana in her life.

Callie and Brandon leapt to their feet in one swift motion as the girl rushed towards them. Callie could tell by the dark circles beneath her eyes and her frenzied hairstyle that she likely hadn't slept.

"I am so sorry!" Mariana said as she reached each hand through the cells and gripped Callie hands with her right hand and Brandon's with her left.

"We know, Mariana." Callie said with a gentle smile.

"Yea, it's okay." Brandon added "Can you just tell us what's going on out there?" he said nodding towards the doorway, as they could now hear what sounded like an escalating shouting match between two men.

Mariana's face changed to one of cautious penitence as she eased her hand away from Brandon and slid more towards Callie's cell. "Please don't be mad at me, but…"

"But, what?" Brandon said, squinting at Mariana with rising anxiety, "What else could you possibly have done, Mariana? We're already in jail!"

"I didn't do anything!" Mariana snapped at Brandon, before seemingly remembering that she was to blame for their current dilemma and lowering her head she said "But, I…I couldn't call Moms either…"

"What?!" Callie and Brandon shouted in unison causing Mariana to snatch her hand away from Callie as well.

"Mariana, look. They aren't letting us call anyone, so you have to call someone to get us out of here." Brandon said pleadingly, "We can't just rot in here."

"I mean," Mariana said, staring down at her shoes again and glancing at Callie and then Brandon nervously, "I did call someone…just not Moms."

Callie and Brandon looked at another and then back at Mariana.

"Then who did you call?" Brandon asked, just as the answer was occurring to Callie.

Before Callie could voice her suspicion, in walked Robert Quinn, his face reddened as the equally miffed police guard made his way to Callie's cell with the keys in hand.

As soon as the man unlocked Callie's cell, she stepped out towards her father and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much!" she said.

After only hugging her back for a moment, Robert gently pushed Callie aside and she turned to see him stepping up to Brandon who was being released from his cell by the warden as well. "Is there a reason that whenever you are involved with my daughter she ends up in some kind of trouble?!" He barked and Callie immediately stepped in front of Brandon who was clearly caught off guard.

"Dad?! Please don't start this right now, okay? We have all had a long night and we really appreciate you getting us out, but can we please just get out of here before you start in with the third degree?"

Robert stared down at Callie and then back over at Brandon before he turned away, silently heading out of the door with Mariana cautiously trailing behind him. Callie gave a quick backward glance to Brandon and then followed suit.

As soon as they stepped outside of the jail, Robert turned to regard Callie. Callie realized that she must have looked truly horrendous, wearing her rumpled clothes from the day before, her capris dirty and discolored with sand, her hair a frizzy mess, scratches on her left cheek and barefoot.

Glancing at Brandon, Callie noted his face, his right eye and his lip bruised from his fight with Hank, his hair a curly, sandy mass and wearing his sleep u-shirt beneath his opened jacket.

This isn't going to be good.

Robert's face was the picture of indignity as he stepped over to Brandon again "I don't want you anywhere near my daughters, ever again!" he shouted and Brandon shook his head, holding out his hands defensively.

"Look, Robert…I am really sorry about all of this. But, I wasn't trying to-"

"Of course you weren't! Because you never are right?" Robert gave a quick glance at Callie and then said in a mocking tone "I'm sure you were just trying to be "loving", right?"

Brandon's expression clouded with confusion at Robert's reference to Callie's words about him at the Christmas dinner months before. As people headed up and down the street, and the sun began brightening the dusty road, Callie could feel angry heat rising inside of her chest.

Mariana stepped towards the car that she and Robert must have ridden here in, and Callie stepped up to her father and huffed out "Actually, he was! Do you even know how all of this happened?" Callie said and looked over at Mariana whose eyes widened, as she shook her head vigorously alerting Callie that she and Sophia hadn't filled Robert in on the full story.

"Callie, don't." Brandon said, but Callie was too angry to stop now.

"Sophia was about to go topless and have about 50 kids passing her picture around on the internet. That's how this happened. Because as usual, Brandon was trying to help me protect your daughter."

Robert's expression was now well past shocked as he glanced over at Mariana who quickly climbed into the backseat to evade further explanation.

"That's right." Callie said, crossing her arms defiantly, "So before you go screaming Brandon's head off about staying away from your kids, maybe just think about where your daughter would be right now if it weren't for him." She finished and Robert looked down apologetically.

"Callie…I-I didn't know."

"Of course, you didn't, Dad. Because you didn't ask."

Robert looked at Brandon with a softened nod "I'm sorry, Brandon." He said, with a genuine regret in his tone. "Sophia and Mariana didn't tell me what happened and I was just…when I got that call and heard about Callie being in jail here? I got so scared. And they didn't even tell me that you were here with them and so seeing her?" Robert said rambling off his apologetic explanation, and then nodding at Callie. "I just got so-"

"It's okay." Brandon broke in, glancing sideways at Callie, "I completely understand. My Mom's a cop, so I know what it's like to be concerned about your loved ones."

"Right," Robert said with an understanding nod, and then sighed deeply saying "Look, I'm sure we have all had a long night. Let's just get back to the hotel and get some rest." He finished as he walked around to the rental car's driver door and slid in.

Brandon stepped towards the car, but Callie reached out and pulled him back. "No, you guys go ahead." She said trying to sound alright, though she was clearly still angry.

"Callie, I-"

"No, Dad. It's fine, OK? I'm fine and so are you and me. But we'll just call a cab. And we'll see you back at the hotel."

Robert looked as though he wanted to object strongly, but instead he nodded his head resignedly and pulled off quickly.

Callie turned towards Brandon and looked up at him as he called a cab service. He pulled the phone down and said quietly.

"They'll be here in about 5 minutes."

"Good." Callie said and felt near tears as she turned towards the dusty road.

"Hey," Brandon said with a reassuring nudge to her side "It's okay. We're out and it's over. Everyone's okay."

"I know it's just…" Callie said, shaking her head, "I'm sorry about him; my Dad. He shouldn't have said that to you."

"Oh, that?" Brandon said, pffting with a wave of his hand "That was nothing. People telling me to stay away from you isn't really anything new."

Callie bit her lip, because she was still angry at Robert and she refused to laugh at Brandon's obvious hint at a morose joke. "Hey, at least he didn't take out a restraining order." Brandon added, leaning down now to force Callie's eyes to meet his. In spite of herself, Callie looked over at Brandon as his bruised yet beautiful face broke into a smile.

Callie tried again to prevent it but the smile found its way to the surface and she laughed softly, "Yea, well; there's that."

A few minutes later, as Callie and Brandon slid into the cab after Brandon had given the hotel name, Brandon breathed out a deep sigh. "But seriously," he said "Joking aside, I don't think your dad is ever going to like me again."

Callie glanced over at Brandon and shook her head determinedly, "Well, that's too bad for him because, he's going to have to get used to you."

Brandon raised his eyebrows in surprise "He is?"

"He is."

"Really? And why is that exactly?" Brandon said with a teasing tone as he struggled to buckle the seatbelt.

"Because…" Callie said as she twisted her fingers, nervously. "You're my…my…" and she paused searching for the right word.

"I'm your…?" Brandon asked and Callie looked up to see that he was focused on her waiting for the answer thoughtfully.

Callie smiled just as she realized that she didn't need a defining word because there wasn't one. Not yet. But from this point on, she knew that Brandon would always be in her life in one way or another.

And so Callie said simply,

"You're my Brandon."